Public menorah

A public menorah is a large menorah displayed publicly during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. It is done to celebrate the holiday and publicize the miracle of Hanukkah, and is typically accompanied by a public event during one of the nights of Hanukkah attended by invited dignitaries who are honored with lighting the menorah.[1]

Public menorah lighting were initiated by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson in 1974. The most prominent public menorah celebration takes place in Washington DC, and is known as the National Menorah. In 2013 Chabad planned 15,000 public menorah lighting events across the globe.

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The concept of lighting a menorah in a way that allows the public to see it dates back to ancient times, where menorahs were lit outside of people's homes in order to publicize the miracle of Hanukkah. The concept of lighting a large menorah in public was initiated by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

In 1973 Rabbi Schneerson announced his Hanukkah-awareness campaign, encouraging his followers and emissaries to reach out to their fellow Jews and give them the opportunity to kindle the Hanukkah lights. That year they distributed some 60,000 tin menorahs.[2] In 1974, in continuation of Rabbi Schneerson's Hanukkah awareness campaign, when Rabbi Abraham Shemtov kindled a menorah at the foot of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall.[3] The following year, in 1975, rock promoter Bill Graham sponsored Chabad's menorah in San Francisco.[4][5]

Since 1974, the concept of public menorahs has expanded. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter participated in the lighting of the public menorah erected by Chabad. In 2013, Chabad planned 15,000 public menorah lighting events across the globe.[6] And in 2014, the public menorah in Washington, D.C. was kindled by Vice President Joe Biden.

Scholars have cited this initiative by Rabbi Schneerson as a prime factor in Hanukkah becoming such a widely celebrated festival.[7][8][9]

The success of the public menorah campaign has not been without controversy. In 1988, the American Jewish Congress produced a 28-page report entitled "The Year of the Menorah", criticizing Chabad's public menorah campaign and the litigation that went with it. It complained of the increase in the number of menorahs placed on public lands, arguing that it was causing tension both within the community and with non-Jews.[17] In 1989, the ACLU challenged the legality of a display of a Chabad-owned public menorah in County of Allegheny. In a court case County of Allegheny v. ACLU the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the menorah.

On the other hand, in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Rabbi Sholom B. Kalmanson of Chabad of Southern Ohio to light an 18-foot menorah in Cincinnati's Fountain Square. Justice John Paul Stevens upheld a lower court ruling that the city could not ban the menorah and other religious displays from the square.[26][27]

Due to the menorah being a Jewish symbol, menorahs in public have been subject to anti-Semitic violence. For instance, in 2009 in Moldova, a group of fundamentalist Orthodox Christians took down a public menorah and replaced it with a cross.[28] The same year, in Vienna, Austria, a Chabad rabbi was attacked by a Muslim man while leading the candle lighting ceremony.[28]

Controversy has also arisen at the Western Wall in Israel. For Hanukkah every year a giant menorah is erected in the men's section of the Western Wall and each night of the eight nights of the festival, male rabbis and male politicians are honored, while women are kept at a distance, where they are barely able to see the ceremony.[29]Women of the Wall sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requesting a large menorah also be erected in the women's section, but Netanyahu simply forwarded the letter to Western Wall rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who accused WoW of ulterior motives of trying to change the customs at the Wall. Responding to Rabinowitz' accusation, Anat Hoffman noted: "In his letter, Rabbi Rabinowitz speaks of bringing together and uniting the nation, and yet his actions exclude and discriminate against women as if women are not part of the same nation. Since he was chosen for this public position, Rabinowitz has never invited Women of the Wall or any other women to participate in the ceremonies or to be honored with the lighting of a candle at the Kotel on Hanukkah, despite the fact that women are obligated equally to men in this religious act." In December 2014 the personal menorahs the women brought to the Kotel were confiscated, but they were returned when police were called.[30][31]

^"'Light One Candle with Women of the Wall' (Dec 11) Women of the Wall" "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-07.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)